The three weeks of Professional Studies Program are for us to focus on personal interests. They have many choices for us - from Adventure, Documentary, Editorial Portraiture, Fine Art and Stock, Food, Studio Lighting, Nature, and Wedding Photography. You pick and choose for the one that fit your career goal.
I took the first week off to be home with family and friends. It’s always good to be away from camera for a little while. So my second week of Pro Studies was The Modern Studio with Heather Anne Thomas.
Usually the morning is the critic time and the afternoon is shooting for the subject of the day, and Friday is about the business and marketing. Monday we shoot Portraits with 4 different groups of people (one young male, one mid-age female, one mother/daughter, one is a family of five).
We have the choice of their outfit and either shot in the studio or outside of the studio. Every group has 3 to 4 students and each group get one hour with each model so you can image the pressure for time. Adult models were very corporative but kids were hard to control especially when they get tired after couple of hours of shooting.
The second day we shoot Wedding Couples Portraits with three different couples (one is high school sweetheart, one is mid-age funky type, the last one is real married couple). I was hoping that these three couples are real married or engaged couples and the age could be from early 20s, mid 30s-40s and late 50s. There is certain thing you just can’t fake; otherwise, it just won’t feel or looks right.
Overall I was happy with the experiences even though I am not a portrait photographer. The pictures turned out ok.
The third day we shot an architect’s house. It was up on the hill, into the woods but looks somewhat modern. I was allergic to dogs and cats and the homeowner have both so I was sneeze so bad that I have to go outside. The roof is an outdoor garden that the homeowner plant cherry tomatoes, eggplant, etc, very cool.
The fourth day we shot in a local coffee shop for the environment, people and food. It would be easier to take a pretty food photo if the food was pretty already; otherwise, you can only do the best you can to make it looks prettier than actually was.
The last day we talked about business and marketing. Heather Anne share with about her workflow, how she get jobs, software she uses, and more. That week went by fast.
Then is the Food Photography week with Joe Lavine. I have been waiting for a food photography workshop for three years. When I couldn’t find one I went to LA for Food Styling workshops just to get a sense how food photo was created.
This week went by even faster, morning is demo and critic, and afternoon is photo shoot. Monday we shot PB&J Sandwiches, Tuesday we shot a subject of our choice (I did oranges), Wednesday we shot drinks in the studio and then went to a local bakery for location shooting, Thursday we shot in a nice restaurant called Red Bird and then went back to studio to shot another subject of our choice (I did spices), then Friday is business and marketing plus 15 minutes of one-on-one time with Joe.
I was having so much fun in this class but also frustrated when lighting or composition didn’t turn out the way I wanted. I like the big window, soft airy light feelings for food photos but I haven’t master the skill yet.
What Joe said to me in terms of my strength and weakness were right on. I was amazed how well he actually knows about me in that short of time. Then the suggestions he gave me were very helpful as well. I guess he sees and worked with enough people to be able to tell about a person in a short time.
After two intensive weeks of the Pro Studies, we got three days off from the Labor Day weekend. Next Tuesday will be the first day of the Advance Intensive program, which was only six weeks long.
thank you for the kind words and hope to see you stopping by again.
Posted by: sabrina | January 12, 2010 at 09:21 PM
Humm... interesting,
You have some great pictures, i particularly like the one with the spices....
Anyway, thanks for the post
Posted by: Web Development London | January 12, 2010 at 05:53 AM